It often is desirable to place a bevel on the upper corner of an edge piece which is attached to the front edge of a laminate covered countertop. If the top and edge of the edge piece are both covered with laminate it is difficult to do this and still get a sharp, straight edge between the laminate on the top of the edge piece and the laminate on the bevel. Laminate varies too much in thickness to simply glue a strip of laminate on a beveled cut in an edge piece having laminate attached to its top surface.
One way this has been accomplished in the past is to use a single sheet of laminate to cover both the top of the edge piece and the beveled corner. A notch is cut in the underside of the laminate sheet along a line that will overlie the intersection of the top surface and the bevel. The sheet is then bent at the notch and adhesively attached to the edge piece substrate. An edge piece made using this cut and fold technique is shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings. The preferred way to attach laminate to a substrate is with a rigid set adhesive, which requires the laminate to be accurately placed on the substrate and held in place while the adhesive cures. This is extremely difficult to do with a cut and fold sheet of laminate, so contact cement is used as the adhesive with this method. Laminate attached with contact cement is not as permanent as laminate attached with a rigid set adhesive. In addition, this method does not allow the laminate on the bevel to be of a different color than the laminate on the top surface.
Another way that laminate has been attached to a beveled corner in the past is shown in FIG. 3. A sheet of laminate is attached to the top surface of the edge piece substrate and a bevel is cut at the leading edge of the substrate at an angle which is normal to the desired bevel angle. An elongate block of material having a strip of laminate attached to one side is then glued onto the bevel cut. Since the laminate is attached to the block before the block is attached to the substrate, it can be attached with rigid set adhesive. However, in order to create a sharp intersection between the laminate on the substrate and the laminate on the block, the block has to be precisely aligned on the substrate and held in this alignment while the adhesive cures. When edge pieces are mass produced, this requires an elaborate clamping jig, which adds to the cost of producing the edge pieces.
The subject invention overcomes the shortcomings and limitation of the prior art methods for making a beveled laminate corner on a laminate covered countertop edge piece or other countertop element by making a first cut proximate the vertical edge of the edge piece substrate. The first cut has an upper extremity which is below the laminate and it creates a first edge surface which is angled with respect to the top surface. A second cut is made through the laminate and into the substrate which intersects the first cut at its upper extremity to create a second edge surface which is perpendicular to the first edge surface. The second cut has a predetermined depth. A rectangular cross-sectioned laminate-covered bevel piece having a thickness equal to the predetermined distance is then adhesively attached to the first and second edge surfaces.
The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.